Printing machine



PRINTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 23, 1925 3. Sheets-Sheet 1 fimil Psdrazzq Marius Tux INVENTORS ATTORNEY A ril 24, 1928.

5 Shee ts-Shee. 2

E m [Z fed/a220, Marius 7Zza.

E. PEDRAZZO ETAL. PRINTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 23, 1925 n u f m INVENTORS.

ATTORN EY April 2 4 1928.

E. PEDRAZZO ET AL PRINTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1925 3 Shee ts-Sheet 3 fedrazzo,

Marius T (162 Z! 3 fil isi inw iiw INVENTORS ATTORNEY gripping the roller at its initial position and Patented pr. 24,1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE".

EMIL PEDRAZZO, OF GUTTENBERG, AND MABIUS TUA. 0]?- UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY.

PRINTING macn'mn.

Application filed October 23, 1925. Serial No. 64,328.

This invention relates to printing means for printing ornamental designs or indicia on tubular articles referably of the fabric type and more speci cally to means for printingsuitable designs upon hosiery and gloves.

Attempts have been made to weave ornamental designs in hosiery; but this method renders the articles too costly for general commercial purposes, therefore efl'orts have been made towards printing, stamping or stenciling the required designs upon such articles. However, owing to the extreme flexibility and the tubular configuration of hosiery and the like, much difficulty has been experienced in the practical application of these methods.

An object of this invention is to provide means for conveniently applying articles of hosiery and the like to a suitable roller or mandrel and then automatically conveying the rollers to printing positions after which the rollers are automatically conveyed to discharge or release positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved printing form of the roller or mandrel type which is constructed for quickly receiving and securing the article to be printed thereto and including means for automatically cooperating'with the conveying components of the machine to efi'ect the conveyance of the article to printing position.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel conveying means for conveying the printing roller through the various operating phases of the machine, the conveying means including automatic means for for automatically releasing the roller at the end of its printing operation.

In printing the highly ornate designs now commercially required on Womens hosiery it is necessary to provide and apply a number of difi'erent colors or pigments; and it is an object of this invention to provide a printing mechanism comprising a number of separate units and arranged so that the required number of units may be incorporated in a machine for printing a speclfic design, certain of the units including indeportion of pendent color or pigment applying means so that as many coloring units may be incorporated in the machine as there are different colors to be applied.

An additional object of this invention is to efi'ect the accurate positioning or registration of the printing roller relative to the conveying and printing means to insure accurate printing of the design upon the desired.

the article to be printed.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a hosiery printing machine of generally improved construction, whereby the device will be simple, durable and relatively inexpensive in construction, as well as con- 05 venient, practical, serviceable and eflicient in its use.

With the 'foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention has been illustrated in its preferred embodiments in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the invention, parts being broken away, and depicting only one of the printing units;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic elevation of the machine showing a number of printing units;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the device,

parts being broken away;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on a line H of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmental elevation of the 9 V printing roller or mandrel, in section;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the printing units;

Figures 7 and 8 are detail elevation views showing different operating phases of the conveyor hooks; and v v Figure 9 is a perspective view of a stocking showing an ornamental design printed thereon.

parts appearing Referring to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are indicated by similar reference characters, there is shown a composite supporting frame 10 comprising sepa- -rate units which are bolted or otherwise se- 14, and the outer end of the shaft has a gear 17 secured thereto, which gear meshes with a pinion 18 driven by a suitable motor 19, A shaft 22 extends transversely across the frame unit 13 and is journalled in the side walls of this unit.

Sprockets 23 are secured to the opposed ends of the shaft 22, and su table conveyor chains 24 are trained around and guided by the sprockets. Motion is imparted to the shaft 22 by a gear 25 secured to the shaft intermediate its ends, which gear, in turn, meshes with and is driven by the worm 16. The opposed terminal unit 12 has a transverse shaft 30 journalled in the side walls thereof and this shaft operably supports spaced sprockets 31 around. which the chains 24 are trained.

Each intermediate frame unit 32 is constructed to receive and support a printing unit 33, and each printing unit is positioned between spaced lugs or ears 34 formed on the intermediate frame unit 32. Set screws 35 are threaded through the ears 34 and engage the printing unit thereby rigidly securing each printing unit to its supporting frame, and each printing unit 33 can be vertically adjusted by means of adjusting screws 36. The number of printing units employed in each machine is determined by the nature of the design to be printed, therefore if only one color is required, one printing unit Will suflice; but in multi-colored designs as many printing units may be employed as there are colors to be applied. Each printing unit or pad is provided with a hollow casing to which the coloring matter is conveyed from a suitable reservoir, not shown, and the supply of pigment or coloring matter may be regulated by a suit-" able valve 41. Designs or stencil apertures 42 are formed in the upper wall or face 43 of the printing unit, which apertures are shaped to conform to the configuration of the design which is to be stamped upon the articTe to be printed. The coloring matter, through suitable means, not shown, finds its way into .the design aperture 42. This means for supplying the coloring matter to the design aperture and for controlling the level of the coloring matter in proper relation to'the printing unit is to be .made the subject matter of a separate patent application, therefore need not be further elucidated herein.

Detachable rollers or mandrel units 45 are provided to receive and support the stock ing S or article to be printed. Each mandrel unit comprises a hollow frusto-conical roller or body member 46 which is peripherally reduced intermediate its ends, as indicated at 47, to receive a covering member 48 which is preferably formed of rubber or any suitable porous material. such as porous porcelain and the like. The small end of the roller 46 has a recess 46 formed therein to receive the foot of the stocking, and then the leg portion of the stocking is stretched over the rollercovering 48, thereby conforming to the configuration of the roller. After the. stocking has been so positioned on the roller, a clamping head 49 is placed on the small end of the roller so that the inner wall 50 of the cylindrical clamping head will tightly engage the stocking when the clamping devices 51 have been turned to locking position, thus firmly securing the stocking to the small end of the roller and at the same time rigidly securing the clamping head thereto. A stub shaft 52 extends longitudinally from the clamping head 49 and this shaft has a lantern gear 53 rigidly secured thereto, while the outer end of the shaft is reduced to receive the inner ring 54 of an anti-friction ball bearing device. The antifriction balls-55 operably support an annulus 56 which has a concave annular recess 57 formed in the periphery thereof, the an nulus 56 being so supported that a. slight lateral motion of the annulus relative to its supporting shaft 52 is permitted. and the bearing unit is locked to the shaft 52 by suitable nuts 58. A stub shaft 60 extends axially from the large end of the roller 46 and this shaft also carries a lantern gear 61 and bearing unit 69. similar to those which are carried by the shaft 52. lhe large end of the roller isprovided with a short cylindrical portion 63 which cooperates with the inner wall 64 of a clamping ring 65 that is loosely supported upon the shaft 60. After the stocking has been properly positioned upon the roller 46 the top edge of the stocking will surround the cylindrical portion 63 of the roller and then the clamping ring 65 is slipped over the large end of the roller and securely clamped to the roller by means of the clamping bolts 66. thereby clamping the top of the stocking to the large end of the roller.

Opposed racks and 71 are supported by brackets 72 carried at the upper edge of the supporting frame units. These racks extend horizontally along the supporting frame units from a point adjacent the left end of the machine to a point beyond the remote outer edge of the last printing unit at the extreme right end of the-machine.

The conveyor chains 24 are provided with conveying members or hooks which are positioned at predetermined and regular intervals. along the chain. Each hook 75 includes a bifurcated body portion which.

straddles and is pivotally secured to the chain 24, as indicated at 76. An arcuat'e slot 78 is formed in the portion 76 and is arranged in concentric relation with respect to the pivot or fulcrum pin 77, and a suitable stop pin 79 is secured to the chain and is positioned within the arcuate slot 78 thereby limiting the movement of the hook plate 76 about its pivot 77. One terminal of a helical retractile. spring 80 is secured to the lower end of the plate 76 while the other end of the spring is secured to an ear 81 carried by the chain 24. An arcuate neck 82 extends upwardly from the plate 76, the inner edge of the neck or hook 82 being shaped to conform to .theshape of the peripheral groove 57 formed in the outer rings of the anti-friction bearings. The hook members are normally held in their upright position by the action of the spring and by the stop pins 79; but in order to move these hooks about their fulcrum pins -77 to a receiving position, as indicated in Figure 8, there are provided two sets of guide cams 85 which are carried by the supporting frame units and are positioned in the normal path of travel of anti-friction rollers 86 which are journall'ed to the plates 76. Each cam 85 has an inclined surface 87 formed thereon which engages the roller during predetermined phases of operation of the machine thereby moving the hooks to receiving position and releasing positions.

In operation, an operator can position the stockings or articles to be printed upon the rollers and then each roller is placed upon the racks 70 and 71 in such a position that the index mark 90 which is inscribed on the shafts 60 and 52 will register with the index arrow or finger 91 supported by the frame unit. This arrangement insures the proper positioning of the roller upon the racks so that the design will be upon the stocking. After the roller has been so positioned it remains there until the hook members 75 grip the bearing rings 56 and convey the rollers along the horizontal porti ons of the racks. As the rollers move along the racks the stocking is pressed against the upper face 43 of the respective printing units thereby causing the selected designs to be printed or stamped upon the stocking. When the multi-color design is required one color is imparted to the stocking by the first engaged printing unit, and

printed accurately as each additional unit is engaged additional colors may be applied to the proper portion of the design. After; the printing units have been passed, the hooks disengage the rollers by the action of the hereinbefor'e described cams 85 and then the roller can move by gravity down the inclined portions 73 of the racks to the delivery or supporting rails 74 from which point the rollers may be removed from the machine and the stocking in turn removed from the roller.

Having thus described our invention We claim is:

1. In combination, in a printing machine of the character described, a stationary printing unit, a detachable mandrel constructed to securely support the article to be printed, conveying means, means for automatically securing the mandrel to the conveying means, thereby permitting the conveying means to convey the mandrel to and in rolling contact with the printing unit, and means for automatically detaching the mandrel from the conveying means.

2. In combination, in a printing machine of the character described, a printing unit,

a detachable mandrel, means for rigidly se-.

curing the article to be printed upon the mandrel, conveying means, means carried by the conveying means for automatically securing the mandrel to the conveying means, thereby causing the conveying means to convey the mandrel to and in rolling contact With the printing unit, and means for automatically releasing the man: drel from the conveying means.

3. In combination, in a printing machine of the character described, a printing unit, a detachable mandrel constructed to rigidly support the article to be printed, flexible conveying means, means for driving the conveying means, hook members carried by the conveying means for operably securing the mandrel to the conveying means, and means positioned in the path of travel of the said hooks for automatically moving the hooks to engaging position, and means cooperating with the hooks for yieldingly securing the hooks to the mandrel.

45. In combination, in a printing machine of the character described, a printing unit, a detachable mandrel constructed to securely support the article to be printed, a flexible conveyor, hook members pivotally secured to the conveyor and normally held in gripping positiqn, cam members positioned in the path of travel of the hook members and what constructed to move the hook members to 5. A mandrel for use in printing machines including a body member adapted to receive the article to be printed, means cooperating with the opposed ends of the body member for clamping the article to be printed upon the body member.

6. A. mandrel for use in printing machines including a body member having an aperture formed in one end thereof, said 10 mandrel adapted to receive the leg portion of a stocking thereon, the foot, portion of the stocking being received by the said aperture, clamping means cooperating with the opposed ends of the body member for clamping the stocking to the body member. Signed at Guttenbergin the county of Hudson and State of New J ersey, this 17th day of October, 19:25.

EMIL PEDRAZZO.

MARIUS TUA. 

